Jan 20, 2012


FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights
1809 - 1st US geology book published by William Maclure
1841 - China cedes Hong Kong to British
1930 - 1st radio broadcast of "Lone Ranger" (WXYZ-Detroit)
1945 - FDR sworn-in for an unprecedented 4th term as president
1969 - U of Az reports 1st optical id of pulsar (in Crab Nebula)1997 - Comet Hale-Bopp crosses Mars' orbit

♫Happy Birthday To: ♫                     
 
Free Rambling Thoughts   
A nice day here…I got a lot done running errands. It was so pleasant outside this afternoon. Just can’t beat life in Flag.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)
Brain Game
NPR Sunday Puzzle
You are given a five-letter word and a seven-letter word. Rearrange the letters of one of the words to get a synonym of the other word. For example, given "alloy" and "devoted," the answer would be "loyal." (Loyal is an anagram of "alloy" and a synonym of "devoted.)
1.     Thing; evening:
2.     State; cleared:
3.     March; delight:
4.     Timer; deserve:
5.     Irate; grenade:
6.     Nadir; deplete:
7.     Onset; boulder:
8.     Awful; inhouse:
9.     Girth; correct:
10.  Agree; itching:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     
AZ Centennial is in 30 days: Did you know?…
Navajo Community College [now Dine’ College] in Tsaile, was the first college on an Indian reservation.
There is a possible 25 years in prison for cutting down a cactus.
Arizona is roughly the size of Italy.
Arizona has more parks and national monuments than any other state, more mountains than Switzerland, and more golf courses than Scotland.
Found on You Tube         
Dine College Commercial
Harper’s Index         
Percentage of millionaires who said in a recent survey that they are concerned about global unrest: 94
Joke-of-the-day
A man was walking along a California beach and stumbled across an old lamp. He picked it up and rubbed it and out popped a genie. The genie said, "OK. You released me from the lamp, blah blah blah. This is the fourth time this month and I'm getting a little sick of these wishes so you can forget about three. You only get one wish!"
The man sat and thought about it for a while and said, "I've always wanted to go to Hawaii but I'm scared to fly and I get very seasick. Could you build me a bridge to Hawaii so I can drive over there to visit?"
The genie laughed and said, "That's impossible. Think of the logistics of that! How would the supports ever reach the bottom of the Pacific? Think of how much concrete...how much steel!! No, think of another  wish."
The man said OK and tried to think of a really good wish. Finally, he said, "I've been married and divorced four times. My wives always said that I don't care and that I'm insensitive. So, I wish that I could understand women....know how they feel inside and what they're thinking when they give me the silent treatment....know why they're crying, know what they really want when they say 'nothing'....know how to make them truly happy...."
The genie asked, "Do you want that bridge two lanes or four?"

Rules of Thumb   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
You lose about 2 to 3 percent of your body weight as sweat for every hour of heavy exercise, but don't confuse temporary dehydration for real weight loss. Losing more than 4 percent of your body weight as sweat can hurt your athletic performance.
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) had originally been titled Alice's Adventures Underground. The original draft was published in 1886.
  • Author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson used the pen name "Lewis Carroll" when he published the book. The book is reportedly filled with allusions to his friends (and enemies).
  • Although Tweedledum, Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty and the Jabberwock are included in film versions called "Alice in Wonderland," these characters did not appear in the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; but rather, the sequel Through the Looking Glass.
  • The patient with "Alice in Wonderland Syndrome" suffers from distorted space, time and body image and has feelings and/or visual hallucinations that the entire body or part of it has been altered in shape and size. The majority of patients with this syndrome have a family history of migraine headaches or has overt migraines themselves. Perhaps not coincidentally, Lewis Carroll suffered from severe migraines, also known as a Lilliputian hallucination."
  • In 1931, the book was banned in Hunan, China, because animals spoke using human language.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 
In a story from the BBC two prominent futurologists take some shots at what the world will be like in 100 years. Following are their 10 most likely predictions.
1. Oceans will be extensively farmed and not just for fish.
We will need to feed 10 billion people and nature can't keep up with demand, so we will need much more ocean farming for fish. But algae farming is also on the way for renewable energy.
2. We will have the ability to communicate through thought transmission.
Transmission will be just as easy as other forms of brain augmentation. Picking up thoughts and relaying them to another brain will not be much harder than storing them on the net.
3. Thanks to DNA and robotic engineering, we will have created incredibly intelligent humans who are immortal.
It is more likely that direct brain links using electronics will achieve this, but GM will help a lot by increasing longevity - keeping people alive until electronic immortality technology is freely available at reasonable cost.
4. We will be able to control the weather.
There is already some weather control technology for mediating tornadoes, making it rain and so on, and thanks to climate change concerns, a huge amount of knowledge is being gleaned on how weather works.
5. We will all be wired to computers to make our brains work faster.
We can expect this as soon as 2050 for many people. By 2075 most people in the developed world will use machine augmentation of some sort for their brains and, by the end of the century, pretty much everyone will.
6. We will have figured out nuclear fusion.
This is likely by 2045-2050 and almost certain by 2100. It's widely predicted that we will achieve this. What difference it makes will depend on what other energy technologies we have.
7. There will only be three languages in the world - English, Spanish and Mandarin.
This does look like a powerful trend, other languages don't stand a lot of chance. Minor languages are dying at a huge rate already and the other major ones are mostly in areas where everyone educated speaks at least one of the other three.
8. California will lead the break-up of the US.
There are some indications already that California wants to split off and such pressures tend to build over time. It is hard to see this waiting until the end of the century.
9. Space elevators will make space travel cheap and easy.
First space elevators will certainly be around, and although "cheap" is a relative term, it will certainly be a lot cheaper than conventional space development.
10. Deserts will become tropical forests.
Desert greening is progressing so this is just about possible.

NEW!!! Planet Earth

Calendar Information        
…Happening This Week:
15-21
Healthy Weight Week
International Printing WeekNational Fresh Squeezed Juice WeekWeek of Christian Unity
20-30
Sundance Film Festival

Today Is                                                                      
Camcorder Day
International Fetish Day
National Butter crunch Day
National Disc Jockey Day
Zodiac: Aquarius Begins
Azerbaijan: Martyrs Day
Today’s Other Events                                                             
1200’s
1265 - 1st English Parliament called into session by Earl of Leicester

1300’s
1356 - Scottish king Edward Baliol resigns abdicates 

1500’s
1502 - The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro is first explored
1576 - The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almansa

1600’s
1648 - Cornerstone of Amsterdam town hall laid

1700’s
1778 - 1st American military court martial trial begins, Cambridge

1800’s
1801 - John Marshall appointed US chief justice
1805 - Lewis and Clark repair Indian tools for food
1830: Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha) was a Seneca Chief born around 1779. While he was often called a coward in war, he was respected as a great speaker, and for his refusal to adopt white ways. Following the way of many before him, he would eventually become an alcoholic. He would die today.
1869 - Elizabeth Cady Stanton becomes 1st woman to testify before Congress
1892 - 1st basketball game played (MA)

1900’s
1920 - The American Civil Liberties Union is founded
1943 - Lead SD, temp is 52°F, while 1.5 miles away Deadwood SD records -16°F
1960 - Patrice Lumumba sentenced to 6 months in Belgian Congo
1961 - Robert Frost recites "Gift Outright" at JFK's inauguration
1968 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming
1980 - President Jimmy Carter announces US boycott of Olympics in Moscow
1980 - Superbowl XIV: Pittsburgh Steelers beat LA Rams, 31-19 MVP: Terry Bradshaw
1981 - Ronald Reagan inaugurated as president; 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days freed
1985 - Superbowl XIX: SF 49ers beat Miami Dolphins, 38-16 in Stanford Superbowl MVP: Joe Montana
1989 - Reagan becomes 1st pres elected in a "0" year, since 1840, to leave office alive

2000’s
2009 - Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becomes the United States' first African-American president

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
In their 40’s
Rainn Wilson, actor is 46

In their 50’s
Lorenzo Lamas, actor is 54
Bill Maher, comedian (Politically Incorrect, Real Time) is 56

In their 60’s
David Lynch, filmmaker, director is 66
Ivana Trump, former wife of Donald is 63

In their 80’s
Edwin E "Buzz" Aldrin Jr, USAF/astronaut (Gem 12, Ap 11) is 82
Arte Johnson, comedian (Laugh-in, Don't Call Me Charlie) is 83
Slim Whitman, yoddler/country singer (Home on the Range) is 88

Remembered for being born on this day
George Burns, [Nathan Birnbaum], actor/comedian (Oh God) in 1896
Charles A Ellwood, US, sociologist/psychologist is 1873
Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas in 1798
DeForest Kelley, actor (Dr McCoy-Star Trek) in 1920
Leadbelly, blues 12 string guitarist (Rock Island Line) in 1888
Patricia Neal, actress (Hud, Subject Was Roses) in 1926

Today’s Obits                                                           
John Burman, Dutch botanist/director (botanical gardens), dies at 71 in 1779
James Connolly, 1st Oly winner (1896) since Barasdates (369 CE), dies at 88 in 1957
Alan Freed, DJ (Big Beat), dies of alcoholism complications at 42 in 1965
George V, King of Britain (1910-36), dies after lengthy illness when physician gave a fatal dose of morphine at 70 in 1936
Bishop Henry, patron saint of Finland, dies a martyr in 1156
Audrey Hepburn, actress (Roman Holiday), dies of colon cancer at 63 in 1993
Barbara Stanwyck, [Ruby Stevens], actress (Big Valley), dies at 82 in 1990
Carl Switzer, actor (Alfalfa-Our Gang), shot to death at 31 in 1959
Johnny Weissmuller, US swimmer (Olympics-5 gold-1924, 28), dies at 79 in 1984

Answers                                                                                                                                            
Brain Game
The arrow points from the A to the Z, symbolizing that Amazon sells just about everything from A to Z
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.     Thing; evening: night
2.     State; cleared: declare
3.     March; delight: charm
4.     Timer; deserve: merit
5.     Irate; grenade: enraged; angered
6.     Nadir; deplete: drain
7.     Onset; boulder: stone
8.     Awful; inhouse: heinous
9.     Girth; correct: .right
10.  Agree; itching: eager

Wuzzle
ArcadesThe start of something bigTip of the iceberg
Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.
All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.
    And That Is All for Now 

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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.